A Christian theology with ponderings on: God, sin, grace, faith, man, and the state of the church and its worship today.
The aim of this blog is to both challenge the Church and build up the Church for the glory of God.

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Bible Reading: Are Read-It-In-a-Year Plans Wise?

There are many "read through the Bible in a year" Bible reading plans available for free, but have you ever been able to follow one for more than two weeks? A month? Some people do, and it might work for them. But it's important to not pressure ourselves to follow a set plan when it comes to the Bible.

For instance, during a day's reading, there may be a passage that you find you really need to think about. If you do, you may miss the time allotted for finishing the rest of the chapters listed for that day. If this happens enough times, you're stuck with feeling the need to read a large number of chapters in a row, in order to catch up on previous days' assignments in the Bible reading plan.

The Bible is the Word of God. When we read it, we should aim to really listen to what it has to say--to really think about it and try to understand it, and that can take time.

We should also be sincere instead of forcing ourselves. As children of God, we will desire at times to read his Word. A plan may force us into doing something we really don't want to do at that moment.

It doesn't need to be a race to get through it as fast as we can. We may hear someone say how they read the Bible in a year and desire to do that because it sounds wonderful. But honestly what's most important for us in reading the Bible is being sincere and ready to think and listen. That includes openness to it taking as much time as needed.